In the early 1990's, Maine saw its a boom in its sea urchin fishery, fueled by demand from Japan. At one point, more than 40 million pounds of urchins were harvested from Maine waters. The boom turned to a bust, and the urchin numbers rapidly declined. A couple of marine biologists at the University of Maine could be on the verge of breakthrough that would breathe new life into the urchin fishery.

Nick Brown and Steve Eddy have their fingers crossed that several years of research and study may be about to bear fruit. They're the director and station biologist respectively, at UMaine's Center for Coopreative Aquaculture Research in Franklin, on the coast of Downeast Maine. The focus of this particular research is sea urchins, or echinoids if you want to get technical, which don't swim but move very slowly across the ocean floor.

Inside a temperature controlled lab, jets of water continually pump a feeding formula into a number of water tanks. These tanks house up to 10,000 sea urchins, in varying stages of growth, all of them raised here at the center. Brown said the overall objective of this three-year project is is to looking at the economic viability of growing urchins.

"So at the end of it we hope to have the answers to questions a number of people have been asking for several years, which is 'Is aquaculture of green sea urchins a viable thing to do?" asked Brown.

These spiny creatures may not be much to look at, but their gonads - or sexual organs - can be worth a small fortune. Gonads may not yet suit the average northern New Englander's palate, but in certain parts of the world, they're a delicacy, and Brown said many Mainers used to make a good living diving for them.

"The urchin fishery was second only to lobsters in the mid-90s valued at aruond $40m and there were around 1500 divers involved," said Brown.

Now though, due largely to overfishing, stocks are severely depleted. Steve Eddy says the gold-rush of the mid-90's was fueled by demand from Japan for "uni."

Steve Eddy: "The 'uni' is the gonad of the urchin and the Japanese have historically consumed it and it's always been a quality, high-end product for them, but as the middle class in Japan expanded the demand for 'uni' increased and they like to eat it at all their major holidays." Tom Porter: "Is it Japan alone that's fuelling this?" SE: Around 90% of the world consumption of 'uni' is in Japan. "

According to Eddy, the shortage of urchin in Maine has had a dramatic impact on uni prices in Japan. Processed uni can sell for as much as $250 dollars a pound at auction. And demand is being created outside of Japan for urchin gonad.

"There is a growing domestic demand, if you go on the internet there are companies that offer uni for sale in trays and you can have it FedExed overnight to your home," said Eddy. "There's Italian restaurants in New York City that love urchin gonads in some of their recipes and it's very popular in sushi bars." With the help of around $300,000 in federal funding, and several commercial partners, Steve Eddy and Nick Brown have been raising urchins both here in the lab, and at growth sites out in the ocean, to compare the two. This year, for the first time, they've been able to grow some tank-raised urchins to harvest size - which is about two and a quarter inches across.

Brown said it obviously cost more money to raise urchins in a tank but that has to be weighed against the fact that land-raised ones can grow to harvest size in just 2 years, whereas in the ocean is takes up to 8 years. He said the next phase is crucial.

Nick Brown: "We haven't done any taste panel studies, any sensory analysis of the quality of the urchins, we haven't done any marketing studies with them yet. We're planning that right now actually."
TP: "And if it goes well then this would be the first time we've got a commercialy viable urchin raised in test conditions?" NB: "From egg all the way to harvest in a land-based aquaculture system, yes." TP: "And you hope to find out later this year about that?" NB: "Later this year, or early next year.. In fact we're in the process of writing a grant to do that next phase."

And that next phase will likely involve a taste panel comprised chiefly of Japanese urchin experts. They'll decide if the gonads of commercially-raised urchins really do taste as good as those of their wilder, ocean-going cousins.